Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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58 PRESEASON 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY MIKE SINGER Bastrop (Texas) High's Tiki Hola kept a lot of people in suspense leading up to his May 10 commitment date. Notre Dame, SMU and USC were the three hats the class of 2026 defensive lineman had on the table, and the 6-3, 300-pounder kept fans, media and coaches guessing. "I told everyone, 'Stay tuned for May 10,' and I didn't even realize that I kept it that quiet," Hola told Blue & Gold Illus- trated. "Nobody really knew if it would be SMU or Notre Dame." The Mustangs and Fighting Irish were the two schools he ultimately decided between, with both staffs making the trip down to Bastrop as often as NCAA rules allowed during the spring evalua- tion period. SMU hosted Hola the two weekends prior to his announcement, with the latter being an official visit. Hola noted that he started leaning to- ward the Irish coming out of his SMU trip the weekend of May 3. "The week of my commitment, I talked about it with God and sat down with my family on Tuesday," Hola said. "That's where we finalized that Notre Dame is home." Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman, Al Washington and Nick Sebastian did get the news of Hola's decision shortly before his announcement. They were thrilled to hear they were landing a top interior D-line target. "They were all fired up about it," Hola added. He, like many recruits, had a unique experience at Notre Dame. "That's just home," he said. "When I went there for my last visit in April, I just didn't want to leave. It felt like that's where God wanted to place me. I never felt like that on other visits. It's different at Notre Dame." Notre Dame has quite the strong Polynesian pipeline in its football program with director of re- cruiting advancement Myron Tago- vailoa-Amosa — a key figure in Hola's recruitment down the stretch — and current players Jordan Botelho, Madden Faraimo, Kahanu Kia, Ko'o Kia, Junior Tuihalamaka and Kyngstonn Viliamu- Asa. And there have been many past Polynesian stars for the Irish, such as 2012 Heisman finalist Manti Te'o. "The Poly bloodline runs strong," Hola stated. "We're kind of rare to see in the world, and it's a big part of us. We're a big family. "Myron got hired not long ago, and it was great to meet him and talk about his journey. He told me about how he was a Hawai'i kid going far away from home, and I asked him about that transition." Hola, who is rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals, is working toward enrolling early at Notre Dame. He's locked in with his Irish pledge and took his official visit to Notre Dame in June. " Eve r y t h i n g i s s h u t down," he said. "I'm fo- cused on Notre Dame. I'm home now, and that's all that matters." Hola — the No. 39 inte- rior defensive lineman and No. 368 overall player na- tionally per the Rivals In- dustry Ranking — also held offers from the likes of Texas, Texas A&M, Georgia, Oregon, Miami, Tennessee, Michigan, Nebraska and many others. During a tremendous junior season, Hola posted 102 tackles (10 for loss), 3 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries and 9 quarterback hurries in 12 games. He was named to the Texas Sports Writers Association 2024 Class 5A first- team all-state defense. He was also on the Padilla Poll Coaches 2024 5A DII all-state second-team defense. Hola was the 2024 Texas District 11-5A D2 defensive MVP. ✦ COMMITMENT PROFILE TIKI HOLA Hola — a 6-3, 300-pounder from Bastrop (Texas) High — recorded 102 tackles (10 for loss), 3 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries and 9 quarterback hurries during his junior campaign. PHOTO BY KYLE KELLY Notre Dame Edges Out SMU For Stocky Interior Defensive Lineman "I'm focused on Notre Dame. I'm home now, and that's all that matters." HOLA FILM ANALYSIS "Tiki Hola is a physical, active defensive line prospect. From a skill set perspective, we re- ally view his strengths as block destruction and his ability to take on and occupy offensive linemen. I really like his projection as a nose tackle-type long term. I think he'll easily hit north of 300 pounds. "When you watch his film, you see that he's physical at the point of attack, has very strong hands and shows the ability to disengage and make plays on the ball as a run defender. I also like that he was active on kick block units as a junior — he blocked three kicks, I believe. "It's easy to see why — from a team-building perspective — you'd want to have a player with his skill set. Hola is at his best as an early- down run-defending nose tackle, given his ability to take on and disrupt blocks. "Moving forward, we want to see him continue to improve athletically. He's at his best playing in a phone booth right now, and there's certainly a clearly defined role that he can play. We'll continue to watch his progres- sion as a senior. That's where we see him fit- ting in based on what we've seen so far." — Rivals director of scouting and rankings Charles Power